PLPA Chair Coleen Ellis has developed the following mission statement and objectives based on input from the organizing committee and ICCFA staff. Please take a moment to review and submit input if you are so inclined

Also included are initial program notes for the first annual PLPA Conference, which will take place in conjunction with the 2010 ICCFA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

The PLPA Mission Statement:

The Pet Loss Professionals Alliance is committed to being an educational resource to its members by providing continued learning in every aspect of a pet death care operation.  The membership, including pet loss suppliers and pet death care facility operators, will be dedicated to the creation of programs to profitably meet the changing needs of the pet death care industry in the areas of cemeteries, crematories and pet loss facilities, also incorporating the various needs of other process partners, such as the veterinary industry.

The PLPA’s commitment to its membership base is to assist in:

• Fostering positive consumer relationships by promoting high ethical standards
• Encouraging our members to promote the dignified and respectful care of the pet bodies
• Promoting cemeteries as respectful resting areas and as a place of lasting tribute to the memories of our beloved pets
• Providing services, products and educational opportunities with an emphasis on those resources that members cannot as effectively provide for themselves.
• Being proactive in leadership on legislative, regulatory and legal issues
• Creating mutually beneficial relationships with state, regional, international and allied associations.
• Providing members the opportunity for networking, growth and recognition through participation in the ICCFA

Obligations of Membership in PLPA:

Members of the PLPA recognize that we have special obligations to the pets, families and other businesses we serve. As guardians of pets in death, we pledge:

• To care for the remains of those entrusted to us with dignity, respect, and professional skill, whether at a clinic, funeral home, crematory or cemetery.
• To honor the wishes of the family and to serve all families with respect, understanding and confidentiality
• To protect and preserve all interment sites and relevant historical data entrusted to us.
• To be guided by the spirit and letter of all applicable laws and regulations set by governing bodies with jurisdiction over our activities in the ownership, management and operation of a funeral home, crematory, cemetery or related endeavor.
• To be an educational resource and guide in standards relating to final pet death care options for our client families as well as our process partners

Ideas for seminar topics for San Antonio (March 10-13, 2010) Conference

• Review of creative cemetery business practices for re-branding and marketing purposes
• Grief/therapy education
• How to partner with other local organizations to grow your pet business
• The power of effective merchandising in show rooms, print, and for e-selling
• Sales training – understanding the sales process to our veterinarian partners.  From getting through the gatekeeper to getting a positive buy from the decision maker through an effective sales approach and presentation
• How to keep a veterinary customer through effective Customer Relationship Management (This could be technology or a sales presentation)
• Voice of the Consumer – Hear from a leader within the American Veterinary Management Association on what they need from their pet death care process partners
• Effective Public Relations within your Community
• Software - roundtable discussion of possible technology solutions
• Development of Standards - discussion

Standards for discussion

• We will abide by the Golden Rule and run our business with the highest of ethical practices within our pet death care operation
• As a business, we will strive to provide educational and resource opportunities – either by providing them in-house or knowing where to turn to guide your families or veterinary clinics
• Staff trained to represent the professionalism of the pet death care business
• Professional skills are enhanced through continuing education courses
• The induction of a PLPA Certification Program – allowing a pet death care operator and their team to put the PLPA behind their name and a distinction of what that means on the ICCFA/PLPA site (would possibly carry continuing education requirements too)
• Definitions of terms for standardizing

We send out family satisfcation surveys to our human side of the business however since the majority of the pet families we serve originate through our veterinarian partners we have little to no contact other than the literature that is returned with the pet cremated remains.   Does anyone have a survey that is sent to your pet families that you could share and any feedback on the questions or return rate?   This is not intended for any solicitation but to further align these pet families with our core business.   Thank you, Mike Uselton    

Hi everyone, 

Would love to hear what grief support are you providing or using in conjunction with an at home visit or your contracts with veterinary offices.

At the NFDA conference, out of the hundreds of funeral directors specializing in pet cremation, only one I met offered any grief support. A few offered a customized paw print, cloth covered urn, pet death certificate. 

As a pet loss supplier of pet memorial products (in loving memory dog lovers/cat lovers candle) and pet loss educator/coach, I would love to hear your thoughts on the the topic.

Many of the suppliers I met at the NFDA conference would love to create a collaborative relationship with the crematoriums/pet funeral directors and/or veterinary clinics you service but haven't had much success. 

Since we have a few months before the next conference, would you be open to sharing your thoughts?

Thank you in advance for your time!

With gratitude,

Claire Gillenson, M.A. Life Transition Coach/Grief Specialist
-Transforming loss and hardships into happiness-

http://www.clairechew.com
http://www.luxepets.com  Pet Loss Educator
T: 310.314.9837 F:310.861.8963

www.sybilsage.comThe pain we fell upon losing a beloved pet is almost embarrassing, causing us to realize that we'd always turned to our animals when we needed comforting.  A warm lick or some nuzzling was so assuring and helpful.  When we lost our dog and were asked at the animal hospital if we were interested in having the remains returned to us, my husband, son and I shrugged.  Looking at an urn would put the focus on death and was not what we wanted.  Years later, after I'd started designing mosaic items, it occurred to me that if I could figure out how to include photos in the work, I could transform urns to be a photo tribute to a pet.  It was important to me and I managed to do it so I'm now designing what I call the petURNity.

Has anyone ran a successful ad campaign for their pet cremation or pet cemetary business. If so, would you be willing to share them with us. Thank you.

We are in the process of opening a pet cemetery and are looking for information/advice to help us get started.  We are curious about the best way to set up the cemetery.  How others have plotted out their cemeteries?  What size grave spaces do we need to set up?  Do you have different areas with different sizes or are they all the same size? 

Any recommendations or resources that can be offered to us would be much appreciated!

Hello fellow PLPA members,

Well, the dates are set, most of the speakers are set and it is time to mark your calendars for the Charter Certified Pet Loss Professional course !!!  October 2-4, 2011 in Fort Worth, Texas will be a fabulous time of education, training and fellowship for all of us that want to become the "best of the best" at what we do. 

What we need from you, the members right now, is to help us get sponsors for the course.  There are 9 opportunities available for breaks, lunches, happy hours and a kick-off party.  Be thinking about the vendors that walk into your place of business...and what they can do to help support this cutting-edge endeavor. 

You can email me at beyondtherainbow@att.net or Tom Bischoff, Roberta Knauf  or John Sparacino and we will forward you the letters and sponsorships ready to print and distribute.  We would like to have these sponsorships filled by July 1.  WE CAN DO IT with your help !!!!!

Don't hesitate to call us is we can answer any questions you have.

Kate Moore   817 249-7700

Roberta Knauf  724 347-5100

Tom Bischoff   267 708-7970

John Sparacino   888 321-4077

We have been getting more and more inquiries for a pet columbarium. We have since designed several of our most popular columbaria to accomodate pets. We realize that since some larger dogs will require larger size niches while smaller dogs and cats could fit into something smaller. Telephone us at 800-426-5973 and we could send you some designs for your cemetery.

Premier Columbaria

www.premiercolumbaria.com

Well, it seems as though these forums are not getting used much. But anyway....

Hello. Just introducing ourselves.

We are Ashes on the Sea - pet division. 

We are a husband and wife team who love people and their pets :)

We can assist with the disposition of ashes, whether individual or bulk, about 3 miles off the coast of San Diego. We are directly off the coast of "Dog Beach" which is located in Ocean Beach, San Diego CA. 

We have an area we affectionately call "Pet's Peak." It is where we have been scattering pet ashes for a number of years. 

Please let us know if you have any questions! We look forward to sharing and receiving useful information in these forums!

Thanks!

Hello there! I was wondering if there are companies who handle preneed services for pets. If so, do you have an example as to how the services and pricing compare to human services?

Hi all - back to the 'segregated' question. I am about to upload the PLPA logo to my site and brochures and I am looking to put a 'blurb' detailing what the PLPA is all about, and why it is 'THE' authority and/or governing organization that any upstanding pet crematorium would want to belong to. Am I correct in assuming that we will allow our members to offer 'communal with ash-separation' cremations? And are we calling it what it is - communal? More than one, means more than one.

I serve a market where some families actually don't mind a 'communal with ash-separation' cremation, (because of lower costs). My competitor offers this service 'openly' and has increased his market share. I have tested this with my retort and have found that I can safely conduct this type of cremation without overt contamination. The separation is over 1 foot from each other - and other than bone dust particles flying around (and bone dust does remain in the crevasses between cremations regardless) I see no other issue if done properly with appropriate separation.

Please let me know where the PLPA will stand on this. With proper training/education, retort tools where needed, and public awareness, I do believe this can become another option for families with limited $$ for pet after-care. BUT, as in everything, caveat-emptor! How do we 'police' the members offering this service? Or do we basically put the onus back to the public by making them aware that this is not a true 'private' cremation and that there are risks of contamination - some within the control of the operator and others not?

I look forward to hearing thoughts on this.

This is a heads up that PLPA Chair Coleen Ellis will be circulating some information regarding the March 10-13 PLPA Conference in San Antonio. Some of the major pieces of the program are starting to come together, but please be thinking about what kind of material you would most like to see covered at the Conference.

We are going to try to have the educational curriculum completed with the next couple weeks, so we would appreciate any input you have in the near future. Please feel free to leave your comments here, or over at the PLPA Blog as the Program announcements are posted.

I am so excited about the formation of the PLPA group.  What an exciting group to begin forming a resource for those that are dealing in the pet death care side of the funeral business.  We are ready for the learning, resources and guidance into how to be the very best that we can be! 

Stay tuned for more to come!  We will certainly become the trusted resource for professionals to turn to for their pet loss and death care needs!

As the PLPA Web site comes together I will be looking for online resources - educational, informative, etc - that might be of use to members. If you know of any useful Web sites, please comment here to add to our Web resources list.

The Pet Loss Professionals Alliance is coming to fruition and in the coming weeks the main page of the Web site will be completed.

Relatively soon, we will begin inviting members to join and participate in this Discussion Forum.

Those of you who have joined should find it easy to create new Forum topics here.

Also, please be sure to mark your calendar for March 10-13, 2010 - the PLPA will hold its first educational program and membership meeting in conjunction with the ICCFA Convention in San Antonio.